Envelope-feeding attachment for typewriters



l. I. ROSENTHAL ENVELOPE FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Dec. 211926.

Filq Spt. 150. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Lew/v POSf/VT ATTORNEYSDec. 21 ,1926. 1,611,841

7 I. I. ROSENTHAL ENVELOPE FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS FiledSept. 30. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet Z INVENTOR flea/mg Foam/77ml.

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 21, 1926.

TENT FFlfiE.

IRVING I. ROSENTHAL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ENVELOPEE'FEEDIDIG ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WRITERS.

Application filed. September This invention relates to improvements intypewriters, and has particular reference to an envelope feedingattachment therefor.

ll hen addressing a number of envelopes considerable time is consumed inselecting an envelope from a stack and engaging said envelope with theplaten of a typewriter preparatory to turning said platen to bring theenvelope into proper position for addressing the same.

An object of the present invention is to effect a saving of time andlabor in engaging an envelope with the platen of a typewriter byutilizing the movement of said plat-en to discharge an envelope from amagazine and toward said platen. 1

Another object is to actuate a rotary envelope discharging mechanismunder the control of the platen to cause said mechanism to en 'age andmomentarily grip an envelope in a magazine to withdraw said envelopether from.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the followingdetailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a fragmentary transverse section through atypewriter showing the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating the manner inwhich an envelope is engaged and discharged from the magazine;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the feeding attachment showing the same inoperative position; and

Figure l is a front elevation thereof.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, in whichportions of a typewriter sufiicient to an understanding of the presentinvention are shown, the numeral 5 indicates the stationary top of atypewriter which supports the movable carriage 6. This carriage supportsin turn the usual platen 7 with which is associated the guide 8 betweenwhich and the platen envelopes and letter paper are fed preparatory totyping thereon. The construction so far described is well known in theart and any further description thereof or of associated parts is deemedunnecessary to an understanding of the present invention.

The attachment of the present invention consists of a magazine 9 mountedin a forso, 1925. Serial no. sense.

wardly inclined position, by means of a bracket 10, upon the carriage 6so as to be movable therewith, the forward lower end of the magazinebeing disposed substantially in a vertical plane with the space betweenthe platen 7 and guide 8, so that when an envelope is discharged fromthe magazine 9 in a downward direct-ion, as indicated in the drawings,the same will enter said space and engage the platen 7 preparatory tobeing turned by the platen for addressing. The forward end of themagazine is open and provided along the vertical edges of the side wallsthereof with narrow retaining flanges 11 which prevent the envelopeswithin the the magazine from accidentally falling therefrom, but which,at the same time, permit of the foremost envelope being dischargeddownwardly past the bottom of the magazine by the mechanism later to bedescribed. A follower l of any desired construction may be placed in themagazine at the upper end thereof so as to exert a constant downwardpressure upon the envelopes.

The feeding mechanism is also supported upon the carriage 6 of themachine by means of standards 13 ll'lOlliltQCl at each end of saidcarriage and having bearings 14 at their upper ends in each of which oneend of the tionary sleeve member 15 is secured. E tending through thesleeve members 15 and rotatable therein is a shaft 15 one end of whichprojects outwardly beyond one of the bearings and carries thereon asprocket 17. This sprocket is engaged by an endless driving element suchas chain which also er;- tends about another sprocket 19 secured on theadjacent end ofthe shaft20 of the platen I, so that when the platen 1Srotated a similar movement will be imparted to the shaft An ejectingmember :21, in the form of an elongated plate, mounted upon the shaft 16by means of bearings 22 so as to rotate with said shaft. At the freelongitudinal edge of said member the same is bent late?- ally to providean extension 23 to which is secured an envelope engaging strip 2% nr lof rubber or any other suitable material which will frictionally engagethe envelope to discharge the same downwardly from the magazine when themember 21 is rotated to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2.

To further assist in the ejection of an envelope from the magazine thereis preferably associated with the ejecting member 2. a pair of grippingmembers 25. One of these membersis slidably supported at each end of theplate 21 for transverse movement relative thereto by means of a lug 26and the outer end of said member 25 is provided with a gripping jaw 27which cooperates with the extension 23 of the plate 21 to momentarilygrip the free edge of the flap of an envelope therebetween during itsejection from the magazine. The jaw 27 is normally held in the retractedposition with respect to the extension 23 by means of a retractilespring 28 one end of which is connected to the lug'26 and the other endto a pin 29 carried by the plate 21. In order to bring the jaw 27 intoengagement with the flap of an envelope at predetermined intervals during the rotation of the feeding mechanism, the sleeve 15 adjacent eachmember 25 secured to its inner end a stationary cam 30 engageable withan extension 31 at the inner end of the member 25. Thus, as shown inFigure 2, when the feeding mechanism has reached the position where anenvelope is engaged the cam 30 will project the member 25 outwardly andcause the jaw 27 thereof to engage the flap of an envelope between thesame and the extension 23. This engagement continues until the extension31 of each member 25 has passed over the enlarged portion of theassociated cam, at which time the spring 28 will retract the jaw 27 andthereby free the envelope.

In operation, as the platen 7 is intermittently rotated by the linespacing mechanism (not shown) of the typewriter, as for instance whenaddressing an envelope, the shaft 16 will also be rotated to bring thefeeding mechanism including the members 21 and 25 to the position shownin Figures 1 and 2. The strip 2-l now engages the foremost envelope inthe magazine and due to pressure exerted upon said envelope the samewill be forced downwardly past the bottom ofthe magazine as indicated inFigure 2. At the same time the jaws 27 of the members 25 willmomentarily be engaged with the flap of the envelope being ejected toassist in the discharge of said envelope from the magazine. While theenvelope is being discharged a slight forward pull will also be exertedthereon by reason of the rotary movement of the feeding mechanism andthis pull will be sufficient to disengage the ends of the envelope fromthe flanges 11 of the magazine. After the envelope is free from themagazine, at which time the jaws 27 have been disengaged from the flapthereof, said envelope will fall to the dotted line position indicatedin Figure 1, with the normal upper edge of the envelope entering thespace between the platen 7 and guide 8 so as to be in proper positionfor addressing upon further turning of the platen. This further turningof the platen produces rotationof the feeding mechanism so that by thetime an envelope in the machine has been addressed and is r ady to bewithdrawn from the typewriter another envelope will have been dischargedfrom the magazine.

hat is claimed is:

1. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters, including a magazine,and means controlled by the rotation of the platen of the typewriter tomomentarily engage and grip an envelope in said ma azine and therebydischarge the some 7" in the magazine toward said platform, said meansthereupon remaining out of engagement with the next succeeding envelopeto be discharged until said platen has completed a revolution.

2. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters, including a magazinesupported above and movable with a type riter, a rotatable feedingmechanism operable to only momentarily engage an envelope duringeachrevolution of said mechanism to discharge said env elope from saidmagazine in the direction of the platen of the typewriter said mechanismthereupon remaining out of engagement with the next succeeding envelopeto be discharged until the mechanism has completed a revolution, and adriving connection between said platen and said feeding mechanism tooperate the latter.

3. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters, including a magazinemovable with the carriage of a typewriter, a feeding mechanism includinga rotary feeding member capable of engagement with an envelope in saidmagazine to discharge the same thereirom in the direction of the platenof the typewriter, means controlled by the retation of said platen forrotating said feed ing member, and gripping members supported by andmovable relative to said feed ing member and operable to momentarilygrip the flap of an envelope between the same and said feeding memberwhile the envelope is being discharged from the mag azine.

l. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinemovable with the carriage of a typewriter a feeding mechanism includinga rotary feeding member capable of engagement with an envelop in saidmagazine to discharge the same therefrom in the direction of the platenof the typewriter means controlled by the ro tation of said platen forrotating said feeding member, gripping members supported by and movablerelative to said feeding member and operable to momentarily grip theflap of an envelope between the same and said feeding member while theenvelope is being discharged from the magazine, and cams for moving saidgripping members relative/to said feeding member and into engagementwith said 'fiap.

5. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above the carriage and platen of a type writer, a rotatableshaft carried by said carriage, and a feeding plate rotatable with saidshaft and extending radially therefrom and operable when said shaft isrotated to engage an envelope in said magazine to discharge the sametherefrom in the direction 1 of said platen.

6. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above the carriage and platen of a typewriter, a rotatableshaft carried by said carriage, a feeding plate rotatable with saidwriter, a rotatable shaft carried by said carriage, a feeding platerotatable with said shaft and extending radially therefrom and operablewhen said shaft is rotated to engage an envelope in said magazine todischarge the same therefrom in the direction of said platen, and agripping member movable relative to said plate to momentarily engage theflap of an envelope while said plate is engaged with the envelope.

8. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above the carriage and platen of a typewriter, a rotatableshaft carried by said carriage, a feeding plate rotatable with saidshaft and extending radially therefrom and operable when said shaft isrotated to engage an envelope in said magazine to discharge the sametherefrom in the direction of said platen, a gripping member movablerelative to said plate to momentarily engage the flap of an envelopewhile said plate is engaged with the envelope, and a cam fixed relativeto said shaft for operat ing said gripping member.

9. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above the carriage and platen of a typewriter, a rotatableshaft carried by said carriage, a feeding plate rotatable with saidshaft and extending radially therefrom and operable when said shaft isrotated to engage an envelope in said magazine to discharge the sametherefrom in the direction of said platen, and a gripping memberslidable on said plate to grip the flap of an envelope between the plateand gripping member while the former is engaged with the envelope.

10. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above and movable with the carriage of a typewriter, a feedingmechanism also movable with said carriage and including. a rotaryfeeding member capable of engagement with an envelope in said magazineto discharge the same therefrom in the direction of the platen of thetypewriter, means controlled by the rotation of said platen for rotatingsaid feeding member. gripping members associated with said feedingmember and operable to momentarily grip the fin p of an envelope betweenthe same and said feeding member while the envelope is being dischargedfrom the magazine, cams for moving said gripping members into engagementwith said flap, and resilient means connecting said feeding and grippingmembers for retracting the latter from engagement with the envelopeafter having been operated by said cams.

11. An envelope feeding mechanism for typewriters including a magazinesupported above the carriage and platen of a typewriter, a rotatableshaft carried by said carriage, a feeding plate rotatable with saidshaft and extending radially therefrom and operable when said shaft isrotated to engage an envelope in said magazine to discharge the sametherefrom in the direction of said platen, a gripping member slidable onsaid plate to grip the flap of an envelope between the plate andgripping member while the former is engaged with the envelope, and meansto normally maintain said gripping member out of gripping relation withsaid plate.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

IRVING I. ROSENTHAL.

